Essex County opens educational exhibits at environmental center

Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. officially opened the new Energy and Conservation Exhibits at the Essex County Environmental Center on Sept. 26.

These new additions transform the first floor of the Essex County Environmental Center into an interactive learning center where visitors of all ages can find out about energy, conservation, solar panels, fuel cells and other environmental issues.

“Since its opening in 2005, the innovative curriculum, hands-on approach to teaching and ability to provide lessons in the classroom, forest and river has made the Essex County Environmental Center the epicenter for nature education and a vibrant facility that offers a wide range of classes and special programs. These new exhibits enhance our mission to raise awareness about conservation and alternative energy forms,” DiVincenzo said.

“Whether you are a homeowner looking to make your home more energy efficient or a student learning about electricity for the first time, our visitors will gain valuable information about what they can do to become better environmental stewards. I commend the staff at the Environmental Center for coming up with new and innovative ways to get the public interested in nature issues and learn what we all can do on a local level to preserve our environment,” he added.

“The Essex County Environmental Center is a great asset for all of our school districts throughout the State. I am positive that any teacher that brings their students to our Environmental Center or Turtle Back Zoo today can be confident that their class will have an exceptional learning experience,” said NJ Senator Teresa Ruiz. “I am proud to be a part of this team and I want to thank the County Executive for his leadership and insuring that we continue Putting Essex County First,” she added.

“We are very excited about this new exhibit and what has been happening here at the Environmental Center. This is another example of Essex County leading the way and helping our residents throughout the County learn more about this critically important issue of energy,” said Gray Russell, Vice Chairman of the Essex County Environmental Commission. “This really has become, and will continue to really be the pivotal issue of our century, so it is very important that Essex County is accentuating the access to information about energy,” he added.

The centerpiece of the displays is a miniature house where visitors learn about how energy is consumed in a home and what simple steps can be taken with new products to conserve energy and reduce energy consumption. The miniature home was constructed with environmentally friendly materials and the household appliances on display are energy efficient. Touch screen computers and displays explain how everything from the tiles on the floor to the insulation to the windows are made to meet the highest energy-efficiency and environmentally-friendly standards. Next to the miniature house is a display about what residents can do in their backyards to protect the environment, such as using barrels to collect rain water, growing vegetables in a garden and using a push mower to cut the grass.

Space for the Center’s library and store was transformed into two energy labs where visitors can learn how a water heater works and what advances have been made to make it more efficient, how windmills create electricity, the difference between incandescent, fluorescent and LED light bulbs, how solar panels and fuel cells work, and other new concepts to create energy in the future. Visitors are encouraged to interact with the exhibits and use touch screen computers to gain information about energy consumption and generation.

Around the outside walls are self-contained kiosks and computer stations where visitors can monitor the amount of energy being generated by the solar panels installed on the Environmental Center roof, calculate their carbon footprint or learn about the history of electricity.

“We’d like to thank the County Executive and Board of Chosen Freeholders, the County Parks Staff and the Roseland Building Department because everyone really rallied around this project to insure that it was completed on time,” said Jim Gagnon, Senior Project Manager at Drill Construction. “We are very excited about what happened here at the Essex County Environmental Center and we know that these exhibits will enhance the learning experience for all the children that visit the Center,” he added.

In addition, a hybrid vehicle will be purchased to assist the Environmental Center staff in its outreach programs to schools and community groups and an electric utility cart will be purchased for the maintenance staff at the Environmental Center.